Famine ship protest to highlight return of emigration

Irish graduates hold a protest next to the Jeanie Johnston and famine memorial statues to highlight the mass emigration of graduates from Ireland

Students have held a demonstration at the Jeanie Johnston famine ship in Dublin. Their aim is to highlight the plight of young Irish as they are being forced to emigrate to find work.

There has been a huge resurgence in emigration since the Celtic Tiger collapsed . Up to 200,000 are expected to leave in the next 18 months

Gary Redmond, president of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) said “Figures from the Central Statistics Office for June 2010 stated that 91,646 people under the age of 25 are unemployed,

“It is astonishing that this critical issue remains largely off the Government’s radar.

“USI is not prepared to stand idly by while this Government oversees the loss of yet another generation of young Irish men and women.”
He said that already future drivers of the smart economy and valuable graduates have already left and thousands more are making preparations to follow them.

He pointed out that “Ireland has invested millions of euro in order to create a workforce that is renowned across the globe for its expertise and innovative capacity.

“It is an act of economic madness to deny these graduates any opportunity to repay that investment by forcing them to emigrate.”
The Jeanie Johnston was chosen as an ironic location as it is docked just in front of the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC). This financial area was once the heart of the Celtic Tiger while the Jeanie Johnston is a reminder that Irish people are being forced to go the U.S. to look for work.

The Union of Students of Ireland said that this mass exodus was the 21 century equivalent of famine ships are taking another generation of Irish youth abroad as their apathetic Government has failed them.

Irish graduates hold a protest next to the Jeanie Johnston and famine memorial statues to highlight the mass emigration of graduates from Ireland